---
title: "Installing Subtrace on Kubernetes"
sidebarTitle: "Kubernetes"
description: "Monitor requests in your Kubernetes clusters, pods and deployments with Subtrace."
icon: "cubes"
---

If you use a Kubernetes cluster and you need to monitor your app's requests in
production, Subtrace is a great fit.

Start by making the following change to your `Dockerfile` to install Subtrace
in your app's Docker image:

```diff
- CMD ["node", "./app.js"]
+ RUN curl -fsSL https://subtrace.dev/install.sh | sh
+ CMD ["subtrace", "run", "--", "node", "./app.js"]
```

Build and push the new Docker image just like you used to before changing your
Dockerfile to install Subtrace. Then update your Kubernetes pod spec to point
to the new image. Here is an example `deployment.yaml` for reference:

```yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: my-container
        image: ghcr.io/NAMESPACE/IMAGE_NAME:latest
        env:
        - name: SUBTRACE_TOKEN
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: env-secrets
              key: SUBTRACE_TOKEN
        securityContext:
          capabilities:
            add: ["SYS_PTRACE"]
```

<Tip>
Make sure the container has the `SUBTRACE_TOKEN` environment variable in your
deployment YAML. Typically, this is done with a [Kubernetes secret](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/secret/), but if your
app uses an external secret manager, consult its documentation. If you don't
have a Subtrace token yet, go to the **Tokens** page on the
[dashboard](https://subtrace.dev/dashboard) and create a tracer token.
</Tip>

<Tip>
Don't forget to set the `securityContext` field in the container spec. Subtrace
needs the `SYS_PTRACE` capability in order to trace your app's requests.
</Tip>

Finish by applying your changes to the cluster:

```
kubectl apply -f ./deployment.yaml
```

And that's it! Send a HTTP request to the [Kubernetes service](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/service/)
corresponding to this deployment and you should see it automatically appear in
the Subtrace dashboard.
